The+Civil+War

__ **The Civil War** __



Opening Activity on the Civil War:

Examine the photo and complete a thorough I see / It means in your virtual notebook.

BE CAREFUL!!! There are very subtle things to look at in this picture which you may at first glance miss. If, after completing your I see / It means, you think you know what this is a picture of, tell Mr. Hurley and get a 5 on this assignment. However you must explain in writing what you see that leads you to believe what this photo is illustrating in a complete I see / It means

Now look at the following set of pictures and come up with a list of things you see in the images:



What are some similarities between these men? What are some differences? Take a guess at the age of each.

Read the following mini-bio of Robert E. Lee: In early 1861, President [|Abraham Lincoln] invited Lee to take command of the entire Union Army. Lee declined because his home state of Virginia was, despite his wishes, seceding from the Union. When Virginia declared its secession from the [|Union] in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state.[|[][|1][|]] Lee's eventual role in the newly established Confederacy was to serve as a senior military adviser to [|President] [|Jefferson Davis]. //**Task**// //Pretend that Massachusetts has seceded for reasons which you disagree (the right of states to determine whether or not to allow slavery). You are asked by the President to uphold the Constitution by commanding the US Army which will re-take Massachusetts by force. Do you accept this job from the President or do you resign and return to Massachusetts to defend it against the US Army? Why?//
 * Robert Edward Lee** (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate [|Army of Northern Virginia] in the [|American Civil War]. The son of U.S. Revolutionary War hero, [|Henry ("Light Horse Harry") Lee III], and a top graduate of [|West Point], Robert E. Lee distinguished himself as an exceptional officer and [|combat engineer] in the [|United States Army] for 32 years before resigning to join the Confederate cause. By the end of the American Civil War, he was commanding general of the [|Confederate army]. He became a postwar icon of the South's "[|lost cause]," and is still admired to this day.

//Reflection: Is there anyway to avoid taking a side if you live in the United States during the Civil War? Explain your reasoning.//

Copy this into your virtual notebook - as we study the Civil War you should refer back to these themes and mark down examples where these conflicts are illustrated and how the people living these conflicts responded. =Civil War Themes=

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=== Lessons on the Civil war from Civil War Battlefield Preservation:
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Civil War Images from the Library of Congress:
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Civil War Timeline (1861) from the Library of Congress:
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Today we will be looking at the sites above.

Begin by opening the first site and scroll down to the Secession Acts of the Thirteen Confederate States.

Skim through all thirteen quickly and find similarities and differences between the states and list those differences in your virtual notebook.

Then choose 2 of these Secession Acts and complete the following APPARTS chart on each.



__Reflection:__ Does the reasoning behind each of these Acts make sense to you? Why or why not? Would you sign on to these Secession Acts if you lived in the state it represents?

Next, click on the second link and scroll down to the timeline. Click on the year 1861.

Using the information on that page you will be creating a visual timeline. You should use images from the Library of Congress site to illustrate it. You can use any of the following to create your visual timeline as well as any other presentation tool you would like to use as found at:

http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Presentation+Tools

Glogster.com Prezi.com Microsoft Powerpoint slide.com - with college level captions!

This should be a complete timeline and will be worth a quiz grade.

June 6, 2011

Strategies for WAR

Go through your notes on 11, Section 1.

In your virtual notebook make a chart which summarizes the Northern strategy for war, and the Southern Strategies for war. This chart can be in any form you like however it should summarize both strategies and should also explain which you think will be more effective and why you think that (be warned, it might be different than your first impression!)
 * //USING YOUR NOTES!!!//**

Technology and War

Using the notes you created for section 2 of Chapter 11 - make a list of all the new weapons / technology utilized by troops during the Civil War and explain:

1) What purpose the new technology served 2) How it changed the way war was fought 3) The importance of this weapon to the overall picture of the Civil War

Can new, better technology take the place of experienced quality soldiers? Why or why not?

Complete the following chart for all of the major battles of the early part of the Civil War.

Be sure to identify the victor (if there was one!) and to explain the importance of each battle to the grand scheme of the civil war.



The Battle of Gettysburg:

// (Refer to [|Map 2] as you read the description of the battle.) // Units of the Union and the Confederate armies met near Gettysburg on June 30, 1863, and each quickly requested reinforcements. The main battle opened on July 1, with early morning attacks by the Confederates on Union troops on McPherson Ridge, west of the town. Though outnumbered, the Union forces held their position. The fighting escalated throughout the day as more soldiers from each army reached the battle area. By 4 p.m., the Union troops were overpowered, and they retreated through the town, where many were quickly captured. The remnants of the Union force fell back to Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill, south of town. The Southerners failed to pursue their advantage, however, and the Northerners labored long into the night regrouping their men. Throughout the night, both armies moved their men to Gettysburg and took up positions in preparation for the next day. By the morning of July 2, the main strength of both armies had arrived on the field. Battle lines were drawn up in sweeping arcs similar to a "J," or fishhook shape. The main portions of both armies were nearly a mile apart on parallel ridges: Union forces on Cemetery Ridge, Confederate forces on Seminary Ridge, to the west. General Robert E. Lee, commanding the Confederate troops, ordered attacks against the Union left and right flanks (ends of the lines). Starting in late afternoon, Confederate General James Longstreet's attacks on the Union left made progress, but they were checked by Union reinforcements brought to the fighting from the Culp's Hill area and other uncontested parts of the Union battle line. To the north, at the bend and barb of the fishhook (the other flank), Confederate General Richard Ewell launched his attack in the evening as the fighting at the other end of the fishhook was subsiding. Ewell's men seized part of Culp's Hill, but elsewhere they were repulsed. The day's results were indecisive for both armies. In the very early morning of July 3, the Union army forced out the Confederates who had successfully taken Culp's Hill the previous evening. Then General Lee, having attacked the ends of the Union line the previous day, decided to assail the Union. The attack was preceded by a two hour artillery bombardment of Cemetery Hill and Ridge. For a time, the massed guns of both armies were engaged in a thunderous duel for supremacy. The Union defensive position held. In a final attempt to gain the initiative and win the battle, Lee sent approximately 12,000 soldiers across the one mile of open fields that separated the two armies near the Union center. General George Meade, commander of the Union forces, anticipated such a move and had readied his army. The Union lines did not break. Only every other Southerner who participated in this action retired to safety. Despite great courage, the attack (sometimes called Pickett's Charge or Longstreet's assault) was repulsed with heavy losses. Crippled by extremely heavy casualties in the three days at Gettysburg, the Confederates could no longer continue the battle, and on July 4 they began to withdraw from Gettysburg.
 * Determining the Facts **
 * Reading 1: Three Days of Carnage at Gettysburg **

**1.** Which army had the advantage after the first day of fighting? What were some reasons for their success? Could they have been even more successful? **2.** What was the situation by the evening of July 2? **3.** What evidence from the previous day's fighting brought General Lee to decide on the strategy for Pickett's Charge on July 3? What was the result of that assault? **4.** Why did General Lee decide to withdraw from Gettysburg? //Reading 1 was adapted from the National Park Service's visitor's guide for Gettysburg National Military Park.// **Part A: A Soldier's View of Gettysburg** Elisha Hunt Rhodes enlisted in 1861 as a private, and by the end of the war he had risen to the command of his regiment, the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry, U.S.A. His unit, a group within the VI Corps under General John Sedgwick in Eustis' brigade, marched 34 miles to arrive on the Gettysburg battlefield during the second day's action. The unit was present on July 2 and 3 but not seriously engaged. Rhodes survived the war, and the journal he kept during that period was compiled in 1885. He wrote: // Near Manchester, Md., July 1st 1863--It has rained for a week and the roads are muddy. After marching for twenty miles it is not pleasant to lie down at night in the wet without any cover. I am tired--in fact I never was so tired in my life. But Hurrah! 'It is all for the Union.' // // We are quite near the Pennsylvania line, and it looks now as if we were to cross over. I am still in good health and spirits and have faith that God will guide us on the final victory. The Rebellion must be put down, and we are doing our best. // // Middletown, Md., July 2nd 1863--On the night of July 1st we were camped near Manchester, Md. Rumors of fighting in Pennsylvania have been heard all the days, but the distance was so great to the battle [Gettysburg] that we knew little about it. The men were tired and hungry and lay down to rest early in the evening. At nine o'clock orders came for us to move and we in great haste packed up and started on the road towards Pennsylvania....We struggle on through the night, the men almost dead for lack of sleep and falling over in their own shadows. But we go on in the warm summer night....On the morning of July 2nd we heard firing in front and then we understood the reason for such great haste....The firing in our front grew loud and more distinct and soon we met the poor wounded fellows being carried to the rear....At about 2 o'clock P.M. we reached the Battlefield of Gettysburg, Penn. having made a march of thirty-four (34) miles without a halt. The men threw themselves upon the ground exhausted, but were soon ordered forward. We followed the road blocked with troops and trains until 4 P.M. when the field of battle with the long lines of struggling weary soldiers burst upon us. With loud cheers the old Sixth Corps took up the double quick and were soon in line of battle near the left of the main line held by the 5th Corps....when we were relieved and returned a short distance. The men threw themselves upon the ground, and oblivious to the dead and dying around us we slept the sleep of the weary. // // July 3rd 1863--This morning the troops were under arms before light and ready for the great battle that we knew must be fought. The firing began, and our Brigade was hurried to the right of the line to reinforce it. While not in the front line yet we were constantly exposed to the fire of the Rebel Artillery, while bullets fell around us. We moved from point to point, wherever danger to be imminent until noon when we were ordered to report to the line held by Gen. Birney. Our Brigade marched down the road until we reached the house used by general Meade as Headquarters.... To our left was a hill on which we had many Batteries posted. Just as we reached Gen. Meade's Headquarters, a shell burst over our heads, and it was immediately followed by a shower of iron. More than two hundred guns were belching forth their thunder, and most of the shells that came over the hill struck in the road on which our Brigade was moving. Solid shot would strike the large rocks and split them as if exploded by gun powder. The flying iron and pieces of stone struck men down in every direction. It is said that this fire continued for about two hours, but I have no idea of the time. We could not see the enemy, and we could only cover ourselves the best we could behind rocks and trees. About 30 men of our Brigade were killed or wounded by this fire. Soon the Rebel yell was heard, and we found since that the Rebel General Pickett made a charge with his Division and was repulsed after reaching some of our batteries. Our lines of infantry in front of us rose up and poured in a terrible fire. As we were only a few yards in rear of our lines we saw all the fight. The firing gradually died away, and but for an occasional shot all was still. But what a scene it was. Oh the dead and the dying on this bloody field. The 2nd R.I. lost only one man killed and five wounded....Again night came upon us and again we slept amid the dead and the dying. // // July 4th 1863--Was ever the Nation's Birthday celebrated in such a way before? This morning the 2nd R.I. was sent out to the front and found that during the night General Lee and his Rebel Army had fallen back. It was impossible to march across the field without stepping upon dead or wounded men, while horses and broken Artillery lay on every side. We advanced to a sunken road [Emmitsburg Road] where we deployed as skirmishers and lay down behind a bank of earth. Berdan's Sharpshooters joined us, and we passed the day in firing upon any Rebels that showed themselves. // // July 5th 1863--Glorious news! We have won the victory, thank God, and the Rebel Army is fleeing to Virginia. We have the news that Vicksburg has fallen. We have thousands of prisoners, and they seem to be stupefied by the news. This morning our Corps (the 6th) started in pursuit of Lee's Army. We have had rain and the roads are bad, so we move slow. Every house we see is a hospital, and the road is covered with arms and equipment thrown away by the Rebels. // // July 9th 1863--Again I thank God that the Army of the Potomac has at last gained a victory. I wonder what the South thinks of us Yankees now. I think Gettysburg will cure the Rebels of any desire to invade the north again. //
 * Determining the Facts **
 * Reading 2: Perspectives of Participants in the Battle **

//Excerpted from Robert Hunt Rhodes, ed.,// All for the Union: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes //(New York: Orion Books, 1991), 114-117. Copyright 1991 Robert Hunt Rhodes.// **Part B: The Call to Duty** In 1861 Georgian Edward Porter Alexander was an officer in the U.S. Army stationed in Washington Territory. He commanded the 1st Corps, C.S.A. Reserve Artillery at Gettysburg, and later in his career took command of the entire First Corps' artillery. He was responsible for mounting the large bombardment preceding Longstreet's assault on July 3. Alexander rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the Confederate army and survived the war. He later wrote: Of course as soon as the news of the secession of Georgia reached us at Fort Steilacoom, some three or four weeks after the event, I knew that I would finally have to resign from the U.S. Army. But I did not believe war inevitable & I felt sure I could get a place not inferior in a Southern army, & I really never realized the gravity of the situation. As soon as the right to secede was denied by the North I strongly approved of its assertion & maintenance by force if necessary. And being young & ambitious in my profession I was anxious to take my part in everything going on. As it soon became clear that our detachment would be ordered to return to the East...I waited for the orders to come & to get back to the East before resigning. I did not feel any doubt about what I had to do under the circumstances. Georgia had seceded. All the seceded states had united & organized a Confederacy, & the Confederacy was raising an army. The only place for me was in that army. So in the course of a day or two I had a talk with [his Commanding Officer] McPherson, telling him that I felt bound to resign & go home, & asking that he would receive & forward my resignation & give me leave of absence that I might sail on same steamer taking it & not be required to wait in California to receive its acceptance, which would detain me about two months. McPherson's reply was remarkable....He said: ' Aleck if you must go I will do all I can to facilitate your going. But don't go. These orders, sent by Pony Express to stop you here, are meant to say to you that if you wish to keep out of the war which is coming you can do so. You will not be required to go into the field against your own people, but will be kept out on this coast on fortification duty. Gen. Totten likes you & wants to keep you in the corps & that is what this order means'....His earnest talk impressed me deeply & made me realize that a crisis in my life was at hand....I could only answer this: ' Mac, My people are going to war, & war for their liberty. If I don't come & bear my part they will believe me a coward--and I will feel that I am occupying the position of one. I must go and stand my chances.' ...I told McPherson we were going to fight for our ' liberty.' That was the view the whole South took of it. It was not for slavery but the sovereignty of the states, which is practically the right to resume self government or to secede. //Reprinted from// Fighting for the Confederacy: The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander. //Edited by Gary W. Gallagher. Copyright 1989 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher.//

**Part C: Changes in Loyalty** Andrew Baker was a soldier in the 22nd North Carolina Infantry, C.S.A., Pettigrew's brigade. He participated in the brutal fighting that opened the battle on July 1 and in the culmination on July 3. He wrote about his experience on the final day of fighting for the magazine of a Confederate veterans' organization. The Capt. W. T. Magruder to whom he referred was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and fought for the Union as a captain in the 1st U.S. Cavalry until October 1, 1862. Magruder then joined the Confederate army, became a captain in the 26th North Carolina Infantry, and died at Gettysburg at the hands of his former comrades. Baker wrote about that action:

// When we reached to within one hundred yards of the plank fence, which stood on the opposite side of the road passing the cemetery to that of the stone fence, the officers of the Eleventh Mississippi had been largely killed or wounded, and the officer who seemed to be in command was Capt. John V. Moore, of the University Grays. He was then in front of Company D, endeavoring to hold the regiment back in line with the troops on our right. I hallooed to him, saying: ' John, for heaven's sake give the command to charge.' He replied that he could not take the responsibility. I then, without authority, gave the command myself, which was promptly repeated and responded to, at which time a run was made for the fence and over it. Just after getting over the fence, and when about half way across the road, I was shot down. The balance of the command which had not been killed or wounded rushed on and jumped the stone fence, charging rapidly to the top of Cemetery Ridge, in line with the Twenty-sixth North Carolina on the right. // // Just after I had fallen I looked to my right, where a little house stood, just against which the end of the stone fence rested on either side. Behind this house some ten or twelve of the Twenty-sixth North Carolina boys for a moment halted, with Capt. W. T. Magruder, who had been formerly a colonel of cavalry in the U.S. army, and who had resigned after the emancipation proclamation and had joined our army, said to them: ' Men, remember your mothers, wives, and sisters at home, and do not halt here.' All responded in a moment, and rushed on to rejoin the regiment, then going to the top of Cemetery Heights. Capt. Magruder himself leaped the stone fence on the western side of the house, and was shot down at once, either as he went over the fence or just after getting over it. //

//Excerpted from Andrew J. Baker, "Tribute to Capt. Magruder and Wife,"// Confederate Veteran Magazine //(November 1898): 507.// **//Part A: A Soldier's View of Gettysburg// 1.** What part did Elisha Hunt Rhodes play at Gettysburg? **2.** How was he able to justify the suffering endured by the Union troops? **3.** How did he respond to the Union victory? //**Part B: The Call to Duty**// **1.** How did Edward Porter Alexander feel about Georgia's secession? **2.** What option did the U.S. Army provide Alexander to avoid becoming involved in the conflict? **3.** How did he justify his choice? //**Part C: Changes in Loyalty**// **1.** Consider Andrew Baker's vivid descriptions of the valiant behavior exhibited in the chaos of battle. Describe the actions of Captain W. T. Magruder. Speculate on his motivations for fighting in both armies before his death at Gettysburg. **2.** Why did Captain John Moore not give the order to charge? How might you have felt in his place? //**All Parts**// **1.** How does reading these personal accounts compare with reading summaries of Civil War battles in textbooks? Do they make you more aware of the personal suffering of the participants? **2.** What are some disadvantages of relying on personal accounts of historical events? With more than two years of war gone by, and with no certain end in sight, President Abraham Lincoln needed to reassure, buoy, and rededicate the spirit of the nation to continue the struggle until its ultimate end. He accomplished this when he was asked to deliver "a few appropriate remarks" at the dedication of a cemetery for the Gettysburg Union dead: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate­we cannot consecrate­we can not hallow­this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us­that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion­­that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain­­that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom­­and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
 * Reading 3: The Gettysburg Address November 19, 1863 **
 * Reading 3: The Gettysburg Address November 19, 1863 **

**1.** How long after the battle did Lincoln give his address? **2.** What did he say about the men who were buried in the cemetery? **3.** How did he give meaning to their sacrifice? **4.** What was it that Lincoln wanted the people of the United States to do for the dead soldiers?



HW: Create a front cover for an historical novel on the Battle of Gettysburg - use color and creativity to convey the mood of the battle. This can be done either online or on paper, but it should be done on plain (unlined) paper and should incorporate either artistic black and white or colors. In addition there should be some images which depict some aspect of what you have learned about the Battle of Gettysburg and its importance to the Civil War.

Your book cover should also include an inventive title which would grab the reader's attention while still conveying the historical aspects of the Battle.